Hello there!

There is so much to do (and not do) these days, and our collective bandwidths are being strained in enormous ways. At the University of Iowa, we love our writers, our programs, we love our graduates and our students -- and we love the wealth of literature that they gift us, simply by being here.

We have created "5 Reads for Friday" as an easy, laid-back series, compiling a short list of inspirational, helpful and fun treasures from our family to yours. Enjoy what you find, take what you need, and be well.

 

• Hey Iowa, What Should I Read?: Here is a list of selections from the International Writing Program's 91st Meridian journal
  
  This issue of 91st Meridian "The Situation" presents new essays about the pandemic from writers around the world, including work from South Africa, Syria, Japan, China, Jordan and more.
   

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  From our Free Online Courses: Moving the Margins: Fiction and Inclusion MOOC-Pack
  
  This MOOC-Pack focuses on writing with imagination and craft that pushes the boundaries beyond standard styles of thinking and writing.
   

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  From the Iowa Review: W.S. Merwin, Native Trees (1984)
  
  "Were there trees / where they were children were there trees / where I had not been I asked..." Heartbreaking Merwin poem on the names of tress
   

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  From the University of Iowa Press: Just Checking In w/ UI Press author Jennifer Habel
  
  University of Iowa Press author Jennifer Hael shares her quarantine routines, new art, good things and book suggestions this week!
   

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  A Gift from Campus: An Ounce of Solace: Digital Care Package From the Obermann Center
  
  "The uncertainty of these past months has made us all appreciative of the gifts we possess and the way we’re fed by each other’s brilliance. Here is a sampling of the gifts of your fellow graduate students in the humanities."

And that's it!
We hope you enjoy. And check back each week for a new list!

^{Photos by Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash, and Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash}